Who has to comply
Public-sector since 2018; consumer services from 28 June 2025.
Malta is the EU's smallest member state by population but hosts a disproportionately large online-gaming, betting and fintech sector whose consumer-facing services reach far beyond the island. Under the EAA-implementing act extending LN 138/2018, a foreign store selling to Maltese consumers is covered on the country-of-consumption basis. Because English is an official language, Maltese-facing sellers have no localisation excuse, though a bilingual Maltese-and-English accessibility statement is the expected norm.
What the law actually requires
LN 138/2018 + EAA sets the technical bar at WCAG 2.1 Level AA via EN 301 549. On top of it, Legal Notice 138 of 2018 lists these operational duties:
- EN 301 549 / WCAG 2.1 AA
- Bilingual statement (Maltese + English)
Penalties and how enforcement actually works
Administrative penalties under the EAA-implementing act.
Enforcement is led by MITA (Malta Information Technology Agency), which runs the public-sector accessibility regime and extends oversight to covered private services. Malta's model is centralised and largely complaint-driven, with administrative penalties under the EAA-implementing act. Given the small administration and the concentration of covered services in remote gaming and fintech, enforcement attention naturally follows those visible, high-traffic operators, with the bilingual statement and feedback channel as the first things checked.
Reading the LN 138/2018 + EAA at the source
The law is cited as LN 138/2018 + EAA implementing legislation (Legal Notice 138 of 2018). Enforcement: MITA (Malta Information Technology Agency). Key date: 28 June 2025. We have not yet linked a verified national source for Malta; the European Commission's EAA page under Sources describes the EU directive the national law implements.
Sources
- European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) · European Commission
Links checked 12 October 2026. Not legal advice. Methodology · About Certvo